As was the case at Edgeley Park, all County Ladies Juniors' fixtures on Saturday were postponed due to the saturated state of the pitches. This was also repeated on Sunday for our Reserves who now haven't played in six weeks. However, the first team's FA Women's Cup (sponsored by E.ON) 2nd Round tie against Wakefield Ladies was able to go ahead thanks to the 3G surface at Woodley Sports.
Having beaten their Northern Women's Combination opponents earlier in the season, 2-1, the Ladies were quietly confident about the task at in hand despite not having played for a fortnight.
The pitch was in fantastic condition despite the continuing rain, and the faithful that turned out were rewarded by a Nat Thomas goal inside two minutes. Although County enjoyed the best of the first half action with captain Nicola Doig being the dominant force in midfield and Rachel Williams and Chloe Spencer enjoying space in the wide areas, they couldn't increase their lead despite their possession and it was Wakefield who were clearly more pleased to hear the half-time whistle.
The second half saw a total reverse for the opening 15 minutes, with Wakefield in the driving seat and County looking nervous and experiencing difficulty in returning to their free-flowing movement of the first period.
In fact, County didn't manage to create a worthwhile attempt on their opponents goal until after the introduction of Katie Sweeney on 73 minutes, when she bypassed the defender and appeared to have kept the ball in play to make an inch-perfect cross to Kayleigh Rowe-Catterall who struck a half-volley past the keeper, disappointment was close at hand though as the Assistant Referee ruled that the ball had gone marginally out-of-play before Katie could get her cross in.
Although Wakefield continued to press forward in search of the equaliser, the County defence were able to engineer the offside trap to perfection to continually frustrate them and deserved the win despite not having played to their full potential.
The unbeaten run now stretches to seven consecutive games and they hope to make it eight with the visit of bottom club, Blackpool Wren Rovers, to Woodley Sports next Sunday (December 6), 2pm kick-off, FREE Admission.
As we have now moved all training to Woodley Sports', Neil Rourke Stadium, Lambeth Grove, Woodley for our juniors, we would especially like to invite girls to come along on a Wednesday evening and join in with our coaching sessions. All coaches are FA Level 1 or 2. Girls' Under-8 to Under-13, 6pm - 7.30pm with Under 14/15/16, 7.30pm - 9pm. For more details contact Audrey on 0161 612-5005.
All seniors training takes place on Tuesdays, 6pm - 8pm. For more details contact Mark, 07890 590144.
For results, match reports and much more, please visit our website:
www.stockportcountyladiesfc.co.uk
